Stephen J. Squeri Sells 38,873 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) Stock

American Express (NYSE:AXP) CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total transaction of $9,276,263.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 76,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,209,855.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE:AXP opened at $235.60 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $169.47 billion, a PE ratio of 19.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $222.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $191.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.62. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $140.91 and a fifty-two week high of $240.55.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.36. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.79 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.40 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 12.99 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.06%.

Institutional Trading of American Express

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of AXP. Park Place Capital Corp grew its position in shares of American Express by 382.6% during the 3rd quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 333 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 92.7% in the 3rd quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,880 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,176,000 after purchasing an additional 3,791 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 44,386 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $6,622,000 after purchasing an additional 2,553 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 225,355 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $33,621,000 after purchasing an additional 1,251 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Blueprint LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 2,734 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $408,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $221.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $209.52.

American Express Company Profile

American Express Company, together with its subsidiaries, operates as integrated payments company in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the Asia Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, Canada, the Caribbean, and Internationally. It operates through four segments: U.S. Consumer Services, Commercial Services, International Card Services, and Global Merchant and Network Services.